The peace of the lazy spring afternoon was shattered in an instant by the unearthly shriek. Ponies all over the small town dropped their shopping, overturned their chairs, tripped into their flowerbeds, and- in the case of one rainbow-coiffed filly- fell off of clouds.
Rainbow Dash sputtered as she picked herself up, spitting out the clumps of dirt and grass that had become lodged in her mouth. She looked around for the source of her rude awakening, her wings flared in indignation. She hoped nopony had seen her fall. “Not cool!”
A thick flock of panicked birds rose over the outskirts of town with a cacophony of wings and screeching. They were followed by a thin-legged pegasus filly, who unsuccessfully called to them and chased after them in an attempt to bring them back. Fluttershy’s wavering voice was lost on the breeze as soon as she spoke. “Wait! Please, wait! It’s okay, little birdies! Um…come back?”
A small figure rose out of the demolished tray of cupcakes, looking like a pony sculpted out of chocolate and vanilla frosting. An oversized tongue appeared and slurped across her face, clearing it of cupcake remnants in one swipe and revealing the vibrant pink coat and twinkling blue eyes beneath. Pinkie Pie giggled. “Oopsie! Guess I better start a new batch!”
A pile of rosy-cheeked apples shifted and went rolling in every direction as the filly beneath flailed to free herself. She clambered to her hooves and straightened the battered old hat that was perched crookedly on her short blonde mane. “Consarnit! Now I gotta start all over again!”
The source of the bone-chilling wail was revealed to be a small white filly with a carefully curled purple mane and tail. She was the center of a strange tableau in front of Ponyville’s library. Before her, frozen in surprise and alarm, stood two smartly dressed Royal Guards harnessed to an elegant chariot. Behind them, arrested in the act of lifting a small stack of cardboard boxes down from the trunk of the chariot, stood two figures. They were unfamiliar to the eyes of the curious townsponies who had gathered in the silence following the scream, and they were caught in the gaze of the wide-eyed filly.
One was a small purple unicorn who held a single box suspended in the grip of her sparkling lavender magic. It was stationary in the air, forgotten by the young unicorn who stared curiously at the white filly. The other, standing twice her height on scaly hind legs, was an adolescent dragon. It was he who spoke first, breaking the awkward silence that filled the air like a tangible fog.
“Uh… are you okay?”
The curly-maned unicorn moved for the first time since her startling outburst. She drew a deep breath and raised one hoof to her heart as though stricken. Her wide blue eyes never left the puzzled dragon’s face. The surrounding ponies winced, anticipating another scream. Instead, the white filly began to talk.
“Am I okay? Okay isn’t even close to it! You- you’re-” she raced over to the confused newcomers and stopped short in front of them, craning her neck back to gaze starry-eyed at the dragon. “Simply amazing! I’ve never seen a dragon before! I do apologize for screaming like that, I was just so taken aback! I had no idea that their scales were so lovely and perfect! They look marvelous, just like gemstones! And your spines are so magnificent and… and…”
She fell silent, apparently stricken speechless by how wonderful he was. The subject of her adoration blushed scarlet (some inherent magic made this visible, even through his thick scales) and grinned awkwardly.
The purple filly lowered her box and slowly approached the other unicorn. Her violet eyes were inquisitive, though she seemed a little nervous of the excitable unicorn. She spoke slowly, as if addressing somepony who wasn’t entirely sane. “Excuse me. Ah, hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle. You are…?”
The filly with the elegant mane tore her eyes away from the purple-and-green dragon with some difficulty. She looked at the serious unicorn in front of her, noticing her for the first time.
“Oh, hello. I,” she tossed her short mane back dramatically, “am Rarity. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?” Her high treble voice, colored with the affectations of a cultured accent, went up at the end hopefully. She glanced at the tall dragon as she spoke, as if hoping that he would recognize her name. Her face fell as the faces of the newcomers remained blank.
The purple filly shook her head, drawing the other’s attention back to her. “Um… No. Sorry. But we’re from Canterlot, so that’s probably why-”
Rarity’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. She grabbed the mare by the shoulders and spun her around, then released her. Her face was stretched into an enormous grin as her blue eyes flicked rapidly back and forth between the two strangers.
“Canterlot? This is wonderful! Why, I’ve always dreamed of living there! The glamour- the sophistication- the- well, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about! But…” Rarity indicated the still-red-faced dragon, “who is your friend, here? He’s so… tall.” she finished, a little lamely.
Twilight Sparkle looked quite taken aback by the filly’s affection. She looked at her companion, who shrugged. Looking back at the eager unicorn, she answered. “That’s Spike. He’s assisting me with my studies during my stay here.”
Rarity clapped her hooves with glee. “Oh, you’re staying here? That’s even more wonderful! How long? I can show you around Ponyville, if you like. We’ll be such good friends, the three of us.”
She fluttered her eyelashes at Spike. He looked completely nonplussed. Twilight, however, began to protest vehemently, waving her hooves in negation. “Oh, no no no no. I think you misunderstood me. I’m here to study, not make friends. We’re staying for the summer while the Princess has my rooms renovated. She thought I needed a vacation. Pssh. I only came because she promised I could stay in the old library and be in charge of it.”
Rarity ignored Twilight’s protests. Only one word stood out to the fashionable youngster. If it was possible, her eyes grew even bigger. Twilight was afraid that the white unicorn’s eyes would get so big, there wouldn’t be any room left in her head. Rarity inhaled, a great sucking in of air. Twilight cringed back in anticipation of the oncoming gush of words. She shot a pleading look over her shoulder to the watching guards and the teenage dragon, trying to telegraph Help me! with her entire face.
It was a wasted effort, however, as the Royal Guards (not having received training in dealing with excitable fillies) were avoiding Twilight’s gaze and preparing hurriedly to take off. Spike was too busy examining the purple scales on his arm, holding them up to the sunlight and admiring the way they shone. They did kind of look like gemstones after all.
Rarity exploded. “You’re friends with PRINCESS CELESTIA? You live in the ROYAL PALACE? You’re friends with the Princess and you live in the palace and you’re staying HERE?” The white filly looked at Spike with even more admiration than before. “Is Spike a PRINCE?”
The idea proved too much for the little unicorn, and with a graceful swoon and a tiny sigh, she collapsed.